Medi-Chi Library
The Medi-Chi TCM Textbook
Theory, diagnosis, herbal medicine, acupuncture and the fifteen treatment traditions. 26 chapters written from the Medi-Chi corpus, cross-linked to the herb database, the point reference and every tradition page on the platform.
Sample chapters are open to everyone. The full textbook is for verified students — free if your college is a Medi-Chi partner college, or with the A$119.99 student plan. Student sign in · For colleges
Part 1 · Foundations and theory基础理论
How the medicine reasons, and the conceptual machinery it reasons with: Yīn-Yáng, the Five Phases, the vital substances, the organ systems, aetiology and the channels.
1How Chinese medicine reasons中医思维What a TCM pattern actually is, how it differs from a Western diagnosis, and why the two sit side by side rather than in competition.
Free
2Yīn and Yáng阴阳The oldest and most-abused idea in the medicine, treated as a working clinical tool: relative, dynamic, and always about a specific thing.3The Five Phases五行Wǔ Xíng as a map of relationships between organ systems — generation, control, and the two pathological cycles — rather than a table to memorise.4Qì, Blood, Fluids, Essence and Shén气血津液精神The vital substances: what each one does, how each one fails, and the signs that separate a deficiency from a stagnation.5The Zàng-Fǔ organ systems脏腑Twelve organ systems described by function rather than anatomy, with the deficiency and excess patterns each one produces.6Causes of disease病因External evils, internal emotions and the neither-external-nor-internal causes — plus the modern additions that classical aetiology never had to describe.7Channels and collaterals经络The channel system as the anatomy of the medicine: twelve primary channels, eight extraordinary vessels, and the secondary systems that explain the stubborn cases.Part 2 · Diagnosis诊断
The four examinations in detail, tongue and pulse, the Eight Principles, and the differentiation systems that turn findings into a pattern.
8The four examinations四诊Looking, hearing and smelling, asking, and palpating — how the four methods are weighted and what to do when they disagree.
Free
9Tongue diagnosis舌诊Body, coat, moisture and shape — the four variables of the tongue, what each tracks, and the artefacts that mislead.10Pulse diagnosis脉诊Three positions, three depths, and the handful of pulse qualities that actually change what you do.11The Eight Principles八纲Exterior/interior, cold/heat, deficiency/excess and Yīn/Yáng — the first pass that every other differentiation system builds on.12The differentiation systems辨证体系Zàng-Fǔ, six stages, four levels, Sān Jiāo, Qì-Blood-Fluids and channel differentiation — which system to reach for and when.Part 3 · Herbal medicine中药方剂
Reading a single herb, the functional categories, formula architecture and modification, and the safety and regulatory frame around prescribing.
13Reading a herb药性Nature, flavour, direction, channel entry and toxicity — the five properties that tell you what a single herb will do before you have memorised a thing about it.14The herb categories本草分类The standard functional categories of the materia medica, each with its representative herbs and the pattern it answers.15How a formula is built方剂Chief, deputy, assistant and envoy — formula architecture, the major families, and how modification actually works.16Herbal safety and regulation用药安全Interactions, contraindications, quality and the regulatory frame an Australian practitioner works inside.
Part 4 · Acupuncture practice针灸临床
Points and point categories, needling technique, building a prescription, the adjunct techniques, and safety and referral.
17Points and point categories腧穴WHO nomenclature, the cùn measuring system, and the classical point categories that do most of the work in a prescription.
Free
18Needling technique针刺手法Insertion, depth, angle, dé qì, tonifying and reducing manipulation, and retention — the mechanics that decide whether the point selection matters.19Building a point prescription配穴Local, adjacent, distal and empirical selection, the standard combining rules, and how to keep a prescription honest.20Moxibustion, cupping and the adjunct techniques灸法与辅助疗法Moxa, cupping, gua sha, electroacupuncture, plum blossom and auricular tacks — what each adds and when each is the wrong choice.21Safety, red flags and scope安全与转诊Anatomical danger zones, adverse events, infection control, and the referral thresholds that sit above every pattern discussion in this book.Part 5 · The fifteen traditions针灸流派
What separates the treatment traditions, what kind of authority each one rests on, and how to choose between them for the case in front of you.
22Why the traditions differ流派Fifteen treatment traditions, three kinds of authority behind them, and an honest account of what each kind of authority can and cannot claim.
Free
23The Chinese-lineage systems中国针法流派Classical TCM, the eight extraordinary vessels, five element, horary, Master Tung, Jin three-needle, wrist-ankle and scalp acupuncture.24Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Tibetan practice东亚各国针灸Four national traditions with their own diagnostic anchors: abdominal palpation, four-needle five-phase technique, facial reflexology, and the three nyépa.25Constitutional, classical-channel and esoteric approaches体质与经典流派Worsley Causative Factor work, Jeffrey Yuen's classical channel systems, and Mikio Sankey's esoteric patterns — three traditions that treat the person before the complaint.26Choosing a tradition, and practising integratively临证选择How to pick a system for the case in front of you, how to compare two systems honestly, and how to write it all up so another practitioner can follow it.